 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com In the twenty-first century, a developmental phase of life is emerging as significant and distinct, capturing our interest, engaging our curiosity, and expanding our understanding of human potential and development. Demographers talk about this new chapter in life as characterized by people—between fifty and seventy-five—who are considered “neither young nor old.” In our “third chapters” we are beginning to redefine our views about the casualties and opportunities of aging; we are challenging cultural definitions of strength, maturity, power, and sexiness. This is a chapter in life when the traditional norms, rules, and rituals of our careers seem less encompassing and restrictive; when many women and men seem to be embracing new challenges and searching for greater meaning in life. In The Third Chapter, the renowned sociologist Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot offers a strong counterpoint to the murky ambivalence that shrouds our clear view of people in their third chapters. She challenges the still prevailing and anachronistic images of aging by documenting and revealing the ways in which the years between fifty and seventy-five may, in fact, be the most transformative and generative time in our lives, tracing the ways in which wisdom, experience, and new learning inspire individual growth and cultural transformation. The women and men whose voices fill the pages of The Third Chapter tell passionate and poignant stories of risk and vulnerability, failure and resilience, challenge and mastery, experimentation and improvisation, and insight and new learning. |
Average Customer Rating:   The Third Chapter Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, a professor of sociology at Harvard, has written about how we can reinvent ourselves after 50. Working on the premise that the years between 50 and 75 are "neither young, nor old," she interviewed men and women across the United States who were willing to risk significant change in the Third Chapter of their lives. I like the concept of the third chapter because it is not an end point. We might go on to a fourth chapter and beyond. Those interviewed often retrieved what they had abandoned earlier in their adult lives or began to live their discarded dreams. The author says, "...we are beginning to redefine our views about the casualties and opportunities of aging; we are challenging cultural definitions of strength, maturity, power and sexiness."
The Third Chapter is made easier because of the life experience and the wisdom gleaned from past failures, which we bring to our new endeavors. Those who take this step want to be recognized for who they are, not just what they do. Lawrence-Lightfoot reminds us that often the leap into a new being is precipitated by a challenging event in our lives. Some of those interviewed became playwrights, some cultivated their singing voices; some became painters. Some chose service such as working with non-profit organizations. Rarely was it an easy transition. It always took work, reflection and integration. Often, this challenge requires one to work on life review and life repair, along with continuing to grow and learn, to make a difference. Their ideals become goals towards which to strive. The joy of reconciling with the past and bringing what is valuable forward, leads to one becoming more compassionate: "The new learning does not mean losing touch with life on the other side of the border."
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot writes eloquently, integrating stories from numerous interviews and drawing pithy conclusions. The Third Chapter is full of graceful phrases and finely tuned passages. Reading it is a learning experience.
by Judith Helburn
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women Introduction alone offers the most pearls of wisdom The Third Chapter by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
After seeing Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot on Bill Moyer's Journal on PBS, I was anxious to read what words of wisdom Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot had to offer in her book, The Third Chapter; Passion, Risk, and Adventures in the 25 years After 50. I was disappointed to receive no additional pearls in her book.
To be fair to Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, she did say who the forty people were that she interviewed for her book. She did disclose the fact that her subjects were not ordinary people of middle class, but rather from the highly educated and privileged upper class with extraordinary wealth. However, I did think I would learn a thing or two by reading the book, but this was not the case.
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot is an educational sociologist who spent two years interviewing both men and women living in the third chapter of their lives; their fifties, sixties, and seventies. She wants us to realize this significant time in life where we may want to seek new meaning and greater challenges. The forty people Sara interviewed were lucky enough to be able to take risks and actually seek their new meanings and fulfill their challenges in their third chapter in life. They had the means to change their lives dramatically. Each has a different story and circumstances that precipitated the change they made.
The Introduction to the book shared the most insight and learning tools than did the stories from the forty people. After finishing the book, I had wished there were more revelations from Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot than from the people she interviewed. The stories were a quick read, knowing how most ordinary people could not even begin to relate to achieving these third chapter life changes of the elite.
This is a self-help book the reader will have to modify, as most people living in their third chapter of life do want to seek changes and challenges. However, besides the Introduction, there isn't much for the average person to learn. This is one time where the TV interview was more informative than the book.
Book Review by Mary Crocco
Thought provoking; fluid style I greatly enjoyed reading this book, often making notes in the margins and underlining passages. Lawrence-Lightfoot, who certainly has the credentials to address the topic, writes in a fluid and compelling style about the THIRD CHAPTER of life, the years between 50 and 75 when the drive for worldly success loses its charm and those with the courage may seize the opportunity to make radical changes in their lives, looking for new learning and deeper connection rather than luxury and recreational retirement. It is true that she has a professorial tone, but it is pleasant and informative and conveys the material in a way that builds the reader's understanding. Ennui I noticed a seatmate on an airplane flight reading Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot's book, The Third Chapter, with strong interest for over an hour, so I decided to give it a try. I reached as far as page 49 of this book, and my attention kept wandering, so I put it aside for weeks, and then for good. I wasn't sure whether the author had made up her mind on how much of the book was personal anecdote and how much was academic. Neither component grabbed my interest. Interesting read Provides insights into the possibilities as well as the challenges of this exciting part of our lives. |  |
Select button not working? 
